It's a scene that's all too familiar to Houston residents.

Explosions, flames reaching into the sky, plumes of black smoke, calls to shelter in place, evacuations, injuries and deaths.

The explosion early Friday morning at a manufacturing plant was the latest deadly reminder of the potential danger posed by hazardous material facilities in the Houston area.

In 2019, there were at least five major chemical incidents in Southeast Texas.

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On March 16, a tube leak caused a fire at Exxon Mobile's Baytown facility. The fire sent thick clouds of dark smoke into the sky. The company reported releases of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and benzene for more than a week after the blaze.

The next day, an equipment failure at International Terminal Company's chemical tank farm in Deer Park caused a fire that burned for three days. The fire shut down the Houston Ship Channel, released large amounts of pollution into the air and water and led to multiple shelter-in-place orders for the surrounding communities.

On April 2, a transfer line carrying isobutylene ignited at the KMCO chemical facility in Crosby. The resulting explosion killed one worker and injured more than 30 others. The explosion reduced the building at the epicenter of the blast to shrapnel.

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Shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday, an enormous explosion at TPC Group's facility in Port Neches injured workers and damaged homes. Fires in the aftermath burned for a week and led to evacuations of thousands of residents. One fatality

The Houston area is home to more than 2,500 chemical facilities.A 2015 Houston Chronicle investigation found there was a major chemical incident in the greater Houston area every six weeks.The investigation found many facilities posed serious threats to the public but were unknown to most neighbors and largely unpoliced by government at all levels.

In November, the Trump administration rolled back a number of chemical safety regulations created in response to the 2013 West Fertilizer explosion that killed 15 and injured more than 200. A coalition of environmental groups sued to stop the rollback.

With those regulations off the books, companies will not have to complete third-party audits or a root-cause analysis after an incident. Companies also will not have to provide the public access to information about what type of chemicals are stored in these facilities either.

While the federal government weakened regulations, Harris County has taken a more aggressive stand with the petrochemical industry in recent months. The county brought civil lawsuits and criminal charges to multiple chemical companies after incidents in 2019. This has led to a race to the courts as the state and the county fight over taking the lead in penalizing polluters.

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Deadly Gessner explosion the latest in string of major chemical incidents for Houston area - Houston Chronicle